As the standards of the Team Rocket organization dictated, James was first shown with a Poison-type Pokémon. However, James seems to have a fondness for carnivorous (or at least dangerous) {{type|Grass}} {{OBP|Pokémon|species}}, owning {{p|Weepinbell}}, {{p|Victreebel}}, and {{p|Carnivine}}. It was shown during a flashback in ''[[DP082|Cream of the Croagunk Crop!]]'' how James, as a boy, found {{TP|James|Carnivine}} in the [[Great Marsh]]. It was trapped in the mud and James rescued it, the two forming a bond of friendship. The capture of a {{p|Cacnea}} early in Hoenn furthered his apparent preference for Grass-types. Often, when going into battle, his Grass Pokémon will show great affection towards James, which usually results in pain for him since all of them either have sharp teeth or spines. It is also shown that James develops a strong bond with each of his Pokémon in general; James almost treats them as his own children, and they in turn are all greatly attached to him. This could stem from the childhood memories he occasionally brings up, where it is shown that while growing up James hadn't really had any friends other than his Pokémon. When it comes time to leave a Pokémon behind for one reason or another, James often has great difficulty in letting go of his beloved friends, as shown in ''[[AG006|A Poached Ego!]]'' when he had to release [[James's Weezing|his Weezing]].

As the standards of the Team Rocket organization dictated, James was first shown with a Poison-type Pokémon. However, James seems to have a fondness for carnivorous (or at least dangerous) {{type|Grass}} {{OBP|Pokémon|species}}, owning {{p|Weepinbell}}, {{p|Victreebel}}, and {{p|Carnivine}}. It was shown during a flashback in ''[[DP082|Cream of the Croagunk Crop!]]'' how James, as a boy, found {{TP|James|Carnivine}} in the [[Great Marsh]]. It was trapped in the mud and James rescued it, the two forming a bond of friendship. The capture of a {{p|Cacnea}} early in Hoenn furthered his apparent preference for Grass-types. Often, when going into battle, his Grass Pokémon will show great affection towards James, which usually results in pain for him since all of them either have sharp teeth or spines. It is also shown that James develops a strong bond with each of his Pokémon in general; James almost treats them as his own children, and they in turn are all greatly attached to him. This could stem from the childhood memories he occasionally brings up, where it is shown that while growing up James hadn't really had any friends other than his Pokémon. When it comes time to leave a Pokémon behind for one reason or another, James often has great difficulty in letting go of his beloved friends, as shown in ''[[AG006|A Poached Ego!]]'' when he had to release [[James's Weezing|his Weezing]].

In the anime

History

An only child of millionaires, James was forced to endure formal society while growing up. Often having to take part in numerous lessons and activities he had little to no interest in, he eventually began to grow weary of the rules and standards that appeared to be ever-present within the upper-class.

At a young age, he was engaged to a girl named Jessiebelle. It was revealed in The Treasure Is All Mine! that he wanted to marry her at some point but he changed his mind after he saw how controlling and overbearing she was. Unable to stand her, he ran away, leaving his lavish lifestyle as well as beloved pet Growlithe, Growlie, behind.

James as "Trainer James" when he was part of the bike bridge gang

He then enrolled in Pokémon Tech, a Trainers' school, where he met Jessie, and subsequently failed and dropped out. After this, as revealed in The Bridge Bike Gang, Jessie and James joined a bicycle gang in Sunny Town, where James was known for using training wheels, acquiring the nicknames "Little Jim" and "Trainer James".

Due to conflicts in canon between Kanto and Johto episodes and the special episode Training Daze, what happened between James and Jessie after the bike gang is unknown. What is known, as shown in the special episode, is that they joined Team Rocket separately and were on initially unfriendly terms after being grouped with Meowth but they quickly made up and became good friends.

Perhaps due to his heavily enforced, sheltered upbringing, as well as the constant harassment that he had to endure from Jessiebelle as a child, James has an odd, somewhat submissive personality. He will regularly comply to whatever ideas the other two come up with, and when he doesn't, usually ends up doing so anyway, like when he was forced to trade his Victreebel away. He also seems to be the most emotional amongst the Team Rocket trio, and if the three should ever happen to get separated, he'll seem very lost without his companions. James also appears to have the most conscience among the three, and is the least prone to backstabbing someone who is kind to him. He can actually be quite sinister when he wants to, however.

In the episode Holy Matrimony!, James returned to his home as a result of a trap by his parents, who pretended to be dead in order to get him to come back to the estate, knowing he would return to pay his respects. He suspected that it was a trap, but he ended up being forced into participating by Jessie and Meowth, who wanted the fortune. After the deception was revealed, he was once again subjected to Jessiebelle's torment until Growlie came to his rescue. After temporarily chasing Jessiebelle away, James soon left his family's manor and as a result declined his inheritance. Growlie stayed behind upon James's request when he returned to Jessie and Meowth.

James has a tendency to be swindled by a Magikarp salesman, who, despite James's increasing wariness and personal vendetta against the shady character, has on many occasions tricked him into buying a Magikarp or other useless Pokémon and items for large sums of money.

In the Best Wishes series, Jessie, James, and Meowth were sent to the Unova region under orders from Giovanni after they were promoted in Memories are Made of Bliss!. Now wearing black uniforms instead of their previous white ones, Jessie and James, along with Meowth, followed various missions given to them by Giovanni through other people. To prevent them from getting too much attention, Giovanni did not allow their other Pokémon to be sent to them, making them use only Pokémon native to Unova. Unknown to the trio, Giovanni was not certain they would be successful; however, he knew that their presence in the region would force Team Plasma to reveal themselves. In Battling for the Love of Bug-Types!, Jessie and James go back to their white uniforms. The trio seems to be more serious and are much less comedic than before, using thought-out methods of escape, such as jetpacks, and thus have not been sent blasting off in the Best Wishes series. They also appear much less often than in previous series.

Character

James has shown to be relatively well versed in various activities, including Pokémon Haiku, Pokémon Orienteering, and PokéRinger, among other things. It is possible that he developed his skills during his temporary separation from Jessie, or even from the many lessons he was enrolled in as a child.

James loves rare bottle caps and has an impressive collection of them. This hobby started when he was a young child. In the episode All That Glitters! it is revealed that he has "drunk enough soda pop to float an aircraft carrier".

At times, instead of a Pokédex, he uses a deck of cards to identify Pokémon, such as in Gymbaliar! when he first learns of Croagunk's Poison Jab with it, or in Mass Hip-Po-Sis! when he uses it to look up Hippopotas (explaining why he knows the Pokémon to be named "Hippopotas" and not "Hippopontas" as Jessie calls it). They appear to have the same entry as an electronic Pokédex, including a few basic parameters like height and weight, though it is unknown how many Pokémon they include (however, he seems to have used them mostly for Sinnoh Pokémon thus far).

Throughout most of the series, James and his two friends were presented as horribly failing and erroneous criminals, always blundering their missions to capture Ash's Pikachu or other Pokémon. However, in the Best Wishes series, he, along with the rest of his team, has developed a more serious attitude in his work.

Pokémon

As the standards of the Team Rocket organization dictated, James was first shown with a Poison-type Pokémon. However, James seems to have a fondness for carnivorous (or at least dangerous) Grass-typePokémon, owning Weepinbell, Victreebel, and Carnivine. It was shown during a flashback in Cream of the Croagunk Crop! how James, as a boy, found Carnivine in the Great Marsh. It was trapped in the mud and James rescued it, the two forming a bond of friendship. The capture of a Cacnea early in Hoenn furthered his apparent preference for Grass-types. Often, when going into battle, his Grass Pokémon will show great affection towards James, which usually results in pain for him since all of them either have sharp teeth or spines. It is also shown that James develops a strong bond with each of his Pokémon in general; James almost treats them as his own children, and they in turn are all greatly attached to him. This could stem from the childhood memories he occasionally brings up, where it is shown that while growing up James hadn't really had any friends other than his Pokémon. When it comes time to leave a Pokémon behind for one reason or another, James often has great difficulty in letting go of his beloved friends, as shown in A Poached Ego! when he had to release his Weezing.

Seven Numel were seen in a flashback of James's. He said he used to have them warm him up while he was sleeping. However, it is unknown if he owned them, or he just befriended them. It is also unknown if they still reside at his home.

Achievements

While he has not accomplished much as a member of Team Rocket, James has proven to be quite skilled at several other pursuits. He has performed well in a few side competitions, even winning a Pokémon Contest.

In the games

Pokémon Yellow

Both Jessie and James appear in Pokémon Yellow as in-game bosses. They first attack the main character in Mt. Moon, while trying to take one of the rare fossils uncovered there.

Later, in Celadon City's Rocket Game Corner, Jessie and James guard Giovanni's room in the Team Rocket base. During that time, as the player runs into them, they are eager for revenge after the main character busted up their plans at Mt. Moon.

Sprites

Quotes

"Stop right there! That fossil is Team Rocket's! Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

When defeated

"A brat beat us?"

After being defeated

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

Rocket Hideout

Before battle

"Not another step, brat! How dare you humiliate us at Mt.Moon! It's payback time, you brat!"

When defeated

"Such a dreadful twerp!"

After being defeated

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!"

Pokémon Tower

Before battle:

"Stop right there! Grampa here wanted to complain, so we're setting him straight. So render yourself invisible, or prepare to fight!"

When defeated

"You will regret this!"

After being defeated

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!"

Silph Co.

Before battle

"Hold it right there, brat! Our Boss is in a meeting! You better not disturb him!"

When defeated

"Like always..."

After being defeated

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light! Again..."

Pokémon Puzzle League

Along with many other anime characters, both Jessie and James appeared in Pokémon Puzzle League, where they appeared with a Weezing, an Arbok, and a Golbat. They are the main opponents in the "Spa Service" line clear challenge.

Pokémon Zany Cards

James in Pokémon Zany Cards

Jessie and James appear as the first opponents in both Wild Match mode and Special Seven mode.

In the manga

In The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga

His first appearance is in Pikachu's Excellent Adventure. He, Jessie and Meowth tag along with a group of lost Pokémon, including Pikachu, to try to find the Hidden Village. When they arrive, he and Jessie attempt to steal the Pokémon living in the village, but they are quickly expelled by a Kangaskhan. In this chapter, he uses a Koffing in battle.

James's next appearance is in You Gotta Have Friends. He and Jessie attempt to steal a herd of wild Pikachu. At this point in the manga, James's Koffing has evolved into Weezing, though its evolution is not depicted in the manga.

While in the anime, the nature of James's relationship with Jessie is not explicitly stated, in the epilogue of the manga, he is shown confessing his love to Jessie. They are shown afterwards married with Jessie visibly pregnant.

He is one of the only main characters to, after being given his first Pokémon, at one point not have any Pokémon on hand, if one doesn't count the events depicted in So Near, Yet So Farfetch'd. This was in A Poached Ego! during the brief moment after he released Weezing and before he caught Cacnea. The other characters were Ash briefly when he was traveling to Hoenn, and Jessie at the beginning of Team Rocket's travels in Unova.

He shares both his Japanese and Brazilian voice actors with Ryusuke Yamino, from Detective Loki.

Excluding Victreebel, James has never battled any of his Pokémon before catching them.

Name origin

James's English name is taken from Jesse James, an American outlaw. His Japanese name, Kojirō, is taken from 佐々木小次郎 Sasaki Kojirō, a prominent Japanese swordsman most famous for being killed by his rival, 宮本武蔵 Miyamoto Musashi, the namesake of Jessie. Also, 二郎 Jirō is a name meaning "second son," while 三郎 Saburō means "third son." Kojirō takes advantage of Jirō, while the Japanese name of Butch, Kosaburō, takes advantage of Saburō.